Alabama Lawmakers Vote to Effectively Ban Abortion in the State

Timothy Williams and Alan Blinder of The New York Times wrote:

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Senate approved a measure on Tuesday that would outlaw almost all abortions in the state, setting up a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the case that recognized a woman’s constitutional right to end a pregnancy.

The legislation bans abortions at every stage of pregnancy and criminalizes the procedure for doctors, who could be charged with felonies and face up to 99 years in prison. It includes an exception for cases when the mother’s life is at serious risk, but not for cases of rape or incest — a subject of fierce debate among lawmakers in recent days.

The House approved the measure — the most far-reaching effort in the nation this year to curb abortion rights — last month. It now moves to the desk of Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican. Although the governor has not publicly committed to signing the legislation, many Republican lawmakers expect her support.

In an email on Tuesday night, a spokeswoman for the governor, Lori Davis Jhons, said Ms. Ivey would “withhold comment until she has had a chance to thoroughly review the final version of the bill that passed.”

Opponents have vowed to challenge the measure in federal court if it becomes law. Even the legislation’s supporters expect that a lower court will block the measure. But it was drafted with exactly that in mind. The ban’s architects, reflecting the rising confidence of abortion critics nationwide after the appointment of Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, hope that the justices will use the case to reconsider the central holding in Roe and allow the Alabama measure to take effect.

“Until now, there was no prospect of reversing Roe,” said Eric Johnston, who founded the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition and serves as its president, and has spent more than 30 years trying to ban abortion.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/us/abortion-law-alabama.html
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/alabama-lawmakers-vote-to-effectively-ban-abortion-in-the-state/ar-AABlRUk

Rachel Frazin of The Hill wrote:

Televangelist Pat Robertson, who is opposed to abortion, criticized an anti-abortion bill passed by the Alabama legislature Tuesday as "extreme."

"I think Alabama has gone too far," he said during a Wednesday appearance on The 700 Club, referencing the bill's 99-year maximum sentence for doctors who perform abortions and the fact that it does not provide exceptions for rape or incest cases.

He added that he does not think the bill would be upheld by the Supreme Court.

"It's an extreme law, and they want to challenge Roe vs. Wade, but my humble view is that this is not the case we want to bring to the Supreme Court because I think this one will lose," he said.

"The Alabama case, God bless them, they're trying to do something, but I don't think that's the case that I'd want to bring to the Supreme Court," he later reiterated.

Alabama's state Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban almost all abortions, sending the bill to the governor's desk. Gov. Kay Ivey's (R) has not said whether she would sign the bill into law.

If it is passed, the legislation would prohibit abortion in all cases, including rape and incest, except for when the mother's life was in danger. People who perform abortions would face sentences from 10 to 99 years, but the person receiving the abortion would not be punished.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/abortion/443870-pat-robertson-says-alabama-has-gone-too-far-with-extreme-abortion
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/pat-robertson-alabama-has-gone-too-far-with-extreme-abortion-law/ar-AABpuXH